Tropical storm warning lifted for Trinidad and Tobago

After a tension-filled day, the tropical storm warning for Trinidad and Tobago has been discontinued.

In a statement shortly after 11 pm Tuesday, the Met Office revised its orange-level alert to yellow, an adverse weather status to monitor weather conditions.

It said the system, potential tropical cyclone two (PTC2), had moved west of Trinidad and that tropical storm conditions were no longer expected.

It did caution that persistent periods of rain and heavy showers and thunderstorms were still likely, and could produce gusty winds in excess of 55 km/h and rainfall accumulations in excess of 25 mm in some areas.  Street flooding, landslides and landslides were possible as well as rough sea conditions.

Over the past two days, the country had been on high alert for a tropical storm. On Tuesday schools were closed, except for secondary students sitting CSEC and CAPE exams, and government offices as well as businesses closed early. PTSC halted services by 3 pm, and taxi and maxi taxis also stopped operating by 8 pm, the original forecast tine for the storm which was revised to two hours earlier.

Caribbean Airlines announced flight cancellations on domestic and US routes on Tuesday and for Wednesday, which were expected to be revised again with the discontinuation notice.

Tobago had reports of rainfall and some damage, and schools were to remain closed on Wednesday, according to a THA advisory.

Also, in an 11 pm advisory, the TT Electricity Commission said it had restored power in response to at least 12 reports of outages in both islands. WASA closed water treatment plants affected by flooding which disrupted supply to the following locations in Trinidad: Matura, Valencia, El Dorado, Tacarigua, Tunapuna, Maracas-St Joseph, the North Coast, Santa Cruz, St Ann's, Moruga, Biche and Guyaguayare.

In Tobago, the water supply was disrupted in Bacolet, John Dial, Mason Hall, Moriah, Richmond, Goodwood and Roxborough.